Gaze tactics

J&B Rare Whisky (2001), print ad, Impact BBDO Beirut

With this flood of ads on the streets and in the media, brands are trying their best to interpellate the modern flâneur . In order to accomplish this, advertisers focus on a special demographic, more like a niche category. 

Popular whisky brand J&B knew that focusing on a target audience is the key of getting the message out there. It is no secret that whisky is a more man oriented drink with it's strong and defined taste compared to other lighter beverages. The ad pictures a man in a romantic situation with a blonde woman holding a J&B bottle. The picture would probably mean absolutely nothing to a female audience. However, to a male viewer, the representation is what the majority of men aspire to be. The male viewer enters in this phase of gaze where he imagines himself in this situation. The woman's look and her eyes also gives us this impression of gazing, of looking towards us. It's like she's saying: what are you waiting for? J&B is is your key to joy.
Digging a little more deeper, the ad was released in December 2001, just around Christmas and New Year. This gaze situation unconsciously will push the male viewer to gift J&B whisky bottles to female friends wishing that this situation may happen, or to friends in order to reinforce his image as a successful and aspiring man. Psychologically, this product is associated with joy, thanks to this moment of gaze that it created.

In this world of hyper-sexualised international pop stars like Lady Gaga, Rihanna and Ke$ha to name few, attracting a maximum number of male viewers from the general public is the main purpose of using the male gaze. 

TV Clip of MTV's Hek Men Ghanneh

Media also plays a huge role in promoting male gaze. For example, the hit show "Heik Men Ghanneh" hosted by Maya Diab on MTV Lebanon is based on very popular format in the UK, Lyrics board. The show had this huge success mainly to the over sexualised persona of the anchor, focusing on her beauty rather than the content of the show. However, the original version of the show did not focus at all on these kinds of details showing that formats are adapted to conform with the expectations of the male viewer and the gaze around it. The camera angles, and the general spirit of the shows focuses on the presenter's physique rather than her skills.

Aonghus McAnally, original presenter of Lyrics Board

However, in this post-modern world roles are changing. Lebanese visual artist Rasha Kahil, has been exploring for years with gaze and public versus private. In her latest work that made headlined in major newspaper in Lebanon, she tackles this issue, refuting woman to be used for the sake of promoting a product or to sell an idea. (Click here for more images)

Rasha Kahil, In your home (2008)

This revolt over the current situation of gaze is happening all around the globe, and Rasha Kahil is reinforcing the statement, showing that Arab woman, historically showed as hyper-sexual individuals, do not agree of this misuse and interpretation of the body for other purposes. Showing a sexual side of our very popular lebanese divas is what sells right now. The male gaze is still one of the most influential tools in marketing right now, due mainly to the fact that men have purchasing power in this country. It is normal that agencies look to promote products and especially luxury items targeting this targeting audience. 

At the ends of the day, we are all spectator of a huge show that we create and limit ourselves. When will the middle eastern mainstream embrace Rasha Kahil's view on gaze? Is purchasing power directly related to gaze in ads?

Resources
Nathalie Rizk
Michel Haddad

Throwback

Just recently, Lebanese food and beverages company Ghandour, launched a revival campaign for one of their most iconic products in recent Lebanese history: Unica

The ad produced by Y&R and directed by André Chammas, relies heavily on nostalgia and aims to create a sense of "throwback" to the audience. The setting of the ad is very reminiscent of the golden era of our country, while keeping the storyboard simple and reliable until today. The short clip also targets a wide target-audience, since it includes different characters that each one of use could relate to, at a certain point in time. Whilst keeping the nostalgia flowing, the ad also created this sense of "always there" to this chocolate bar; sharing most of our times in happy in sad moments through out history. It also features heavy use of highly popular locations such as the Piccadilly Theatre that is the symbol of Beirut in the late 70s. The art direction also relies deeply on vintage wardrobe, cars and even old Unica packages, to create this sense of history and involvement. The slogan "Unica living your stories, even the smallest of them" shows how much Ghandour wants to deeply integrate this product into our collective memory, making almost a historical landmark.

This theme has been widely used by advertisers to to promote an idea or a product. In 2012, Bank Audi in the purpose of promoting it's new "Lebanese Only" credit card played on the audience's emotions and hope of going back to Lebanon's golden age. The ad also contains a heavy use of symbols such as the old Lira bill next to the a Lebanese ID in a wallet, to stress that the era and the underlying message behind the ad. In this case, the commercials is composed of archive clips or old Beirut, aiming to drown the audience in a kind of nostalgia of this city that was ravaged with war. It also features iconic locations such as the "Télephérique station" in Jounieh and the Carlton Hotel to name a few. 

Both ads have one big idea in common, which is to create a unique and wide identity for Lebanese people, that includes all parts of society. It's what groups all parts of this deeply fragmented Lebanon. Maybe in creating a new identity that regroups all of the audience, those products can win their place in the products Hall of Fame and can be remembered as situation changing items for the rest of our long history. However, Unica's campaign is far more accessible and believable since it markets a product that is easy to acquire. Moreover, the way the Bank Audi ad is executed (pasting archive clips together) makes us loose the spirit of the idea while the Ghandour ads, while re-creating the spirit of the era, is more representative of this period. 

Zoom 101

March 2005, Lebanon is on the verge of change. This year marked a watershed in the history of our country. Lebanon was basically divided into two sides, to parties, two ideologies and even two ways of reporting fact by Lebanese media outlets.

At that time LBC and Future TV were mainly pro 14th of March, whereas the other stations such as the Hezbollah owned channel were rallying with the 8th of March party. It is no secret that Lebanese TV stations are majorly owned and controlled by political parties and are heavily influenced by their actions. That said, it was normal for them to report facts with a special twist, the way they wanted to be seen. 

A very famous form of presenting and broadcasting news at the time entered our political life and even Lebanese pop culture. Zooming in and out. It was reported that TV stations used to zoom out on certain manifestations to created this sense of added depth to the amount of protesters. Likewise rival TV station used to zoom in the view to remove this sense of infinite showing a few number of protesters. At this point in time, a Lebanese citizen was measured as the amount of square meter he can invade.



This practice was on everyone's tongue; hours of political debates and explanations on air by reputed politicians. It was even the subject of dares by political rivals to count each person at the opposite protests and announce the majority. This slight use of propaganda by Lebanese medias created a new form of selective censorship and editing. It was a main argument to use while talking about the situation.

This practice shows that media outlets offer you the news the way they want you to see it. Technically, they are not masking facts or pretending they didn't happen. They even didn't re-edited or modified it. What they did is a mere job of zooming in or out the picture, to help the cause their political parties are fighting.

Until today, many regimes in the Arab world used this simple technique to blur the lines between reality and what they want you to see. This is why media has always been the go-to platform to publish and broadcast facts. The perspective and the way it is produced changes with every outlet depending on what coming for them at the end of the day.

A whole new dimension

Artists through out time have tried to re-create reality on canvas, experiencing with different perspectives and techniques. In 2012 and in partnership with 3D Mapping Factory, and for the occasion of it's 75 years of existence, ALBA presented a first in the country way of representing reality: 3D Mapping.

With the digital revolution and the easy access of 3D technologies everywhere, it was expected that these kind of practices will be available one day. The presentation takes the viewer and submerges him into a new reality, a reality that is extremely close yet untouchable. Artists used to paint on walls, paper and other traditional materials. In the 21st century why not making our concrete buildings our canvases . The main idea is to transform something fix, unmovable into a new way of presenting an idea to picture a new reality.

The creators of this 3D mapping introduced the viewer to a new perspective that represents perfectly the way we look at ourselves. Traditional ways of representations are not as effective with the presence of more realistic and representative way of telling something of spreading the message. This whole concept of meet-up and watching a virtual projection makes it more intriguing and interesting. This explosion of colours and wide variety of animations grasp instantly the viewer's attention. Old representations were nearly ephemeral. However, 3d Mapping is instant and quick: the ALBA campus is always there unlike the message and the graphics that do not belong to the structure.




Another different approach to 3d mapping is it's re-appropriation in music and arts theme. The projection took place on the Rochester Castle and the video was an unexpected mix of ACDC and Iron Man. Even if the subject was targeted to niche audience, many gathered see the castle warping, morphing and collapsing in front of them. What's different with the ALBA 3d mapping, is that this projection was not created for a particular purpose; it was just produced for the sake of creating art and combining those two themes together. It is now no longer a question of purpose and more a question of aesthetic since artists come up with different ideas and medium to express their art. 

One of the most famous forms of 3d mapping projection is without doubt the Tupac hologram at the Coachella Music and Arts festival in California. Brought to the mainstream by no other than Snoop Dogg and Dr. Dre, this icon of West Side rap appeared safe and sound with the most prominent figures of this genre today on stage. 

Without doubt, 3d mapping has a bright future ahead. The idea of morphing and changing something that is here, always is a huge leap in the way we represent perspective. The fact that it's making art instant compared to nearly ephemeral pieces produced in the past. The show is limited in time creating this urge to gather around walls of concrete to catch the piece of art. What's next? Maybe in few years 3d mapping will be a thing of the past just like canvases.

Old school taking over

When was the last time you had a shawarma sandwich at your favourite restaurant? With the rise of American diners and fast-food chains, local traditional shawarma restaurants had a real slump in sales because people want something new, something hip. With their tame and boring branding there was no way they could compete with those expensive branding campaigns and social network presence that the competition was getting. Not it until now at least.

The newest kid on the block, Shawarma  Republic is here to make it change. The brand successfully re-appropriated the traditional shawarma and transformed it into a modern and interesting sandwich. It all started with a viral video on YouTube. The video portrayed a DJ spinning music with shawarma making the idea of consuming this type of sandwich something that could be identified as "cool". The owners tried to make path for resurgence by changing the way we look at shawarma in general. The viewer decodes this video in a way that wants him to try and see if there is something different in that particular sandwich.

Shawarma Republic also appropriated the very popular Obama "Yes We Can" campaign in one of their visuals with the slogan "United we sandwich". In other words, the main idea is a heavily westernised image that conforms with what the competition is offering to attract a maximum number of clients. The viewer is interpellated by this image which includes him  in the story and main theme of the visual. The "We" creates a sense of belonging to group of people, a group that is willing to try/or tried the brand new shawarma. The viewer also immediately relates this visual with the "Yes We Can" campaign which was successful creating a positive appeal to the brand.

Shawarmanji, a brand that is also fighting for it's place in the battle of the sandwiches is also taking the same approach. The visual is professional yet approachable which targets the viewer in becoming a potential client. The shawarma which was at one point and old and traditional offering is now having a second wind thanks to this re-appropriation by Shawarmanji, for example, that is integrating it with our today's standards. 
Shawarma also had an international boost after Tony Stark refers to it in the latest instalment of the Iron Man franchise. Following the release of the movie Shawarma restaurants in LA and New York were jam packed with people wanting to try or to replicate their favourite action hero.

Reviving old products or items has always took an important part in the world of branding and visuals. Shawarma was popular and will remain popular. However, these new approaches are making it more hip, more trendy. It's just 21st century version of one of the region's most popular sandwich.

A matter of location

Johnnie Walker billboard in Beirut (2006, Leo Burnett)

A small walk around Beirut shows how much our capital has become a billboard jungle. Ads beg to differentiate and agencies use all the possible techniques and topics to rule the city and stand out from the competition.

This Johnnie Walker billboard appeared just after the 2006 war. It denotes a broken bridge and the iconic Johnnie Walker striding man walking and passing through it. If this ad was shown around the world it wouldn't have the same impact it had in Lebanon. The broken bridge strongly connotes the damage that occurred during the 2006 war and the ever walking man shows the determination of the Lebanese people to overcome all kind of obstacles. The billboard strongly takes inspiration from the social and political state of Lebanon at that particular time. While having the same art direction and design aspect of typical Johnnie Walker ads around the world (yellow over black graphics and minimal elements) the underlying message and true purpose can only be decoded by people with enough information about the 2006 war in Lebanon.

Absolut Vodka print ad (2006, TBWA)

This other Absolut Vodka ad also published after the end of the 2006 war holds a more local meaning than the regular generic Absolut ads. It depicts a vodka bottle moulded into bricks. However, it also strongly connotes the determination and the love of life of the Lebanese people protecting their alcohol bottle from the damage. The technique is also reminiscent of the way the National Museum protected the antiques during the Lebanese civil war. The agency implemented in this way a topic specific to Lebanon and not immediately recognisable by people unfamiliar with the subject. This ad also strongly connotes the Lebanese people love to party and make a celebration of nearly everything.

Both ads have one important thing in common other than the message. Both ads want to give the random Lebanon viewer the impression of compassion and sympathy with all the damage that happened during the war. They create this feel of presence and a sense a hope that in a way they are included in the reconstruction of what was destroyed. Both brands want to be present during the aftermath as they can be associated with the positive aspect of the war. In a more general way, they want to show the general public that they are interested and deeply touched by the situation and they express it with their visual identity.

Absolut Vodka print ad (TBWA)

Another very popular example is the Absolut Beirut ad which forms a Vodka Bottle with the feet of Lebanese club goers connoting the love of life and the party spirit of the country.

Two examples show how much local versions of very popular brands ads can hide an underlying message that only a specific number of people can notice. Multiple topic have been used a lot to connect big international brands to local events and detailed social behaviour to show a more up and personal side of these huge names.